Read more
Both critic and writer, Stendhal has now become established as one of realism's founding fathers. Dr Pearson's book maps out, for the first time, the critical reception of Stendhal's two most widely read novels, The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma since their publication in 1830 and 1839 respectively. In part one he provides generous samples of the most important nineteenth-century responses to the novels, almost all of them translated into English for the first time. Part two presents a full range of the most authoritative and influential readings since 1945, which illustrate a wide variety of critical approaches.
List of contents
Introduction 1. Letters to a friend 2. The Red and the Black - topicality and realism, plausibility and representation 3.The Charterhouse of Parma - mirror or myth?, psychoanalysis and story-telling; perspectives Part 1: Nineteenth-century views 4. 1831 - Balzac's response to The Red and the Black 5. 1832 - from Stendhal's own draft review of The Red and the Black 6. 1840 - from Balzac's review of The Charterhouse of Parma 7. 1854 - Sainte-Beuve on The Red and the Black 8. 1864 - Hippolyte Taine on characterization and style 9. 1880 - Emile Zola on Stendhal the psychologist 10. 1882 - Paul Bourget on Standhal and The Red and the Black 11. 1892 - Emile Faguet on The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma Part 2: Modern readings 12. Realism - Erich Auerbach on The Red and the Black, Georges Blin on realism and point of view 13. Thematic criticism - Jean-Pierre Richard on Stendhal's imaginary universe 14. Existentialism and Marxism - Victor Brombert on freedom in The Charterhouse of Parma, Pierre Barberis on politics in The Charterhouse of Parma 15. Structuralism and language - Shoshana Felman on madness and intoxication, Michel Crouzet on language and silence 16. Psychoanalysis and narratology - Roland Barthes on The Charterhouse of Parma, Peter Brooks on The Red and the Black 17. Feminism and gender criticism - Carol Mossman on The Red and the Black 18. Readers and representation - Ann Jefferson on reading The Red and the Black, Christopher Prendergast on the ethics of verisimilitude.
About the author
Roger Pearson is Professor of Frenchat the University of Oxford and a Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford He is a Fellow of the British Academy and Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques
Summary
The "Modern Literatures in Perspective" series aims to help the reader study texts in isolation and in context by selecting the most representative reactions to the texts, from their first appearance, to date. The historical and cultural context in which each text was produced is also outlined.
